Father's Day Special

I just wanted to get in my 2 cents about Father's Day!
Father's Day has always been special to me. Whether expressed or not, I have always looked forward to Father's day. To be a Father is a huge responsibility. My dad always took his responsibility as a father very seriously! He loves my mother and nothing, and I do mean NOTHING comes between him and my mother. We all learned that very young. It is pointless to disagree with mom because if you tried, no matter what the subject or your reason for disagreeing, YOU were wrong! At the time, that was irritating. But heins sight is 20/20!! He showed us that in order to be a good father you have to first be a great husband. I love that my dad constantly showed us how much he loves my mom. He always got her flowers. He never forgot her birthday, mother's day, or their anniversary. As far as being a husband and father goes, he set the bar very high!
My dad always does whatever he can to help out his family. From feeding them to tieing their shoes (including moms) to helping them build a house ;). I love my daddy.
He has taught me so much! He taught me how to hook a worm, catch a fish (and let one get away ;) ), That if you want "The big one" You gotta be up BEFORE the crack of dawn! "0-Dark 30"! He taught me Gun safety, how shoot a gun and how to lock it so you can't shoot it. He taught me how to camp, in a tent and without. He showed me you are NEVER to old to listen to the music you listened to in high school! That sometimes in order to fix a nasty break up all you have to do is call in sick (to both work and school) load up the fishing poles (and a couple guns), take the top off the truck, crank the Zepplin, and head out to your fav. fishin spot. It's amazing what fresh air and some controlled anger release can do for a girl whose just been cheated on!!
But more importantly he taught me how to love and respect my mother. He taught me that being a jerk is not ok. There is no excuse for rudeness. He taught me that when people are being rude that the best way to deal with it is to "Kill em with kindness" (I'm still working on that one).
He taught me to live in the moment. To never get discouraged. To this day, when ever I'm feeling defeated by life I hear my dad tell me to "Cowgirl Up! It'd kill an ordinary girl! But not you! You're rough and tough and used to hardships!!"
My dad means the world to me!! I am so lucky to have been blessed with such a rockin dad!!
I have also been blessed with a wonderful hubby!! My Greg is the other awesome father in my life! He works so hard for our family! He has spent almost 1/2 our marriage working 2 jobs just to make sure we have the things we need! He loves his kids and does whatever he can to show it. He is constantly looking for ways to give his kids what they need and finding ways to get them what they want! He is always trying to think of ways to give our boys fun memories! He is a wonderful father and I wouldn't want anyone else to be by my side to raise our 2 wonderful boys!!
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there New and Experienced!

House Update

We had another class Tuesday night where we went over a 2" binder of everything and anything we will need to know. We talked about loan closing and finally got a realistic date of when we can actually start construction! July 15th!! That is about when we are expected to start putting in our 35 hrs a week.
We're thinking about moving up to Graham so we're still looking for apartments. After discovering that to pay what were paying now, we would live in the Ghetto, Greg graciously up'd my rent budget, so that's making life a lot less stressful.
So far we've received another copy of the floor plan, lot #, neighborhood area, the specs for the house, the tool list we're expected to have (can you say Greg's shopping spree?!), an outline of the jobs we're expected to do, and we've signed a TON of papers. We had to sign off on the floor plan, the lot #, the contract with NWHD (labor agreement), the Rural Development agreement, the budget, the specs...I'm sure there was more but that's all I can think of right now. We've gotten a list of our out-of-pocket expenses (which isn't to bad). We made up a schedule of when we're thinking we'll be available to help out and filled out a check list of what we do and don't know how to do, working the saws, electric powered and elbow grease powered, nailing, leveling, lifting...everything that you have to do in order to build a house. A lot of overwhelming information. Luckily Greg has been soaking it in like a sponge so if I don't get something he explains it to me when we get home.
We're excited to get started and even more excited to get it done!!! It's going to be a stressful, busy year! I'll try and be good about keeping you updated once we get started!
We decided to take one last vacation before the craziness starts so Tuesday night we're headed to Utah for a family reunion (on Greg's side). I'll post pics!

Let s be Men

Greg found this video and he really liked it so I decided to post it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIQA6s2_Hw

"Put one foot infront of the other"

Gary is so close to walking it hurts!! Sunday he took his first steps! 3 to be exact! We didn't think he'd do anything but Greg held him up and walked him out and let go, (like i said, expecting him to just sit down) and he took 3 steps and then sat down!! It was sooo amazing!! He just barely (like a week ago) started standing by himself. He'll pull him self up on something and then let go but only for a minute, max!! And then out of the blue...Ta-da!! he walks! Today is his 11 month birthday, so hopefully he'll get to walkin!! I've been obsessed with the thought of him walking so I've been walking him all over the place. I got him to take 2 steps towards me today twice. I'll try and get a pic of him standing and maybe some video of him taking a few steps! No promises though!

Where Were You

*You MUST turn the music on for this one! Even for just the one song...the song is the reason for the post!*

The past couple of days have been rough! I've been trying to get the house cleaned so that we can start going through stuff and start packing.

I know...It'll be a year before we move, but I figure it'll take us that long. Plus we're thinking about moving up closer to the property so that the commute to work on the house won't be as long and won't cost as much in gas.

I have a hard time cleaning with the boys. I don't classify my self as a very patient person. So cleaning (which I HATE doing) pretty much takes it all out of me. As a result our poor kids have to deal with a short fused mom. So this morning as I was trying to fold one of the 5 loads of laundry that needs to be folded we were listening to this song (Where Were You, by Alan Jackson) and Isaac says "C'mon Mommy...dance" I snapped back "I CAN'T DANCE ISAAC!! I HAVE TO FOLD THIS STUPID LAUNDRY!!!!!!" and he, being the sweet heart that he is brought me back down to earth. He runs over, gives me a hug and says "I lub you mommy! C'mon! Dance!" and so, with 5 loads of laundry piled up in the chairs, we danced!!

I lub you Isaac!

Saturday is a Special Day

Last Saturday it got up to 80 so we went over to Greg's parents house and set up their water slide. This was the result!

Isaac with his Cars get up! The shirt is what happens when you constantly go down the water slide on your tummy!! It was brand new when he put it on!







Gary wasn't a fan of going down the slide but he did like to just sit on it!

We put Gary in the pool part when we were deflating it and taking the water out! He thought that was lots of fun!

After the pool was taken down the boys found other means of entertainment. That of Gary chasing Isaac who only knows how to go backwards in the car!

It was a fun filled day of relaxation and we spent the next 3 days nursing our sunburns! It was glorious!!!